Search Results for: Schedule

Within the confines of project management, a schedule milestone, also known as a milestone activity, is an event of great significance within the project schedule. See also milestone. This major event may be a number of possible events, both planned and unforeseen by project management. As a result a schedule milestone may or may not be present on the project schedule prior to the point in time where the schedule milestone occurs. A few examples of unforeseen schedule milestones would be: a sudden and disastrous accident halting a major production or construction effort that is a key part of the project, or the failure to complete a major deliverable. In most cases project management uses schedule milestones to: mark the formal end of iteration, indicate the completion of a project phase, validate a project’s progression, justify work already completed, and mark the successful completion of a major deliverable or deliverables. By definition a schedule milestone has no duration; the completion of the schedule milestone itself takes absolutely no time or work. This may not always indicate that the next phase of a project can be immediately begun though. Key schedule milestones may require senior level project management to review project progress up to the schedule milestone in question before authorization to continue with the next phase of the project can be given.

This term is defined in the 3rd edition of the PMBOK but not in the 4th.

A target schedule is a project management tool that is used as a supplement to the approved baseline schedule. It takes into account the fact that variations in resource availability and other circumstances may sometimes affect the completion timeline of various activities. The baseline specifies the planned start and finish dates and the duration of each activity based on information gleaned from initial schedule network analysis. Target dates typically focus on the completion of individual tasks and may deviate from the baseline dates as needed to provide additional flexibility in project management. However, the original baseline data is still retained for historical reference regardless of any changes that occur during the lifecycle of the project.

In order to develop and use a target schedule effectively, it is necessary to have a performance management strategy in place. This includes measuring the variances between the target start/finish dates and how quickly the project work is actually advancing. The targets can be adjusted to take early and late start or finish dates into account based on how interrelated schedule activities are progressing. This is helpful in determining best and worst case scenarios and the impact they have on the overall schedule.

The same types of project management graphs used for baseline schedule reporting may be created for a target schedule as well. A hammock activity graph that shows the overlap of various activities over the same time period is particularly useful for this purpose. It offers a visual overview of the network of activities that require resources during the same period. If a particular resource is temporarily limited, target dates for non-critical activities may be extended for later completion to prevent delays in more critical schedule components. A hammock style graph may also highlight areas where resources are being underutilized – permitting some targets to be achieved ahead of schedule.

This term is defined in the 3^rd edition of the PMBOK, but not in the 4^th.

Schedule forecasts are the estimates or predictions of conditions and events in the project’s future based on information and knowledge available at the time the schedule is calculated. In the project management, forecasts are updated and reissued based on work performance information provided as the project is executed. The information is based on the project management’s past performance and expected future performance, and includes earned value performance indicators that could impact the project in the future.

The schedule forecasts are derived from progress against the schedule baseline and computed time estimate to complete (ETC). This is typically expressed in terms of schedule variance (SV) and schedule performance index (SPI). For projects not using earned value management, variances against the planned finish dates and forecasted finish dates are provided. In project management, forecast may be used to determine if the project is still within defined tolerance ranges and identify any necessary change requests.

To calculate the schedule forecasts, a schedule model may require more than one project calendar to allow for different work periods for some activities. Control schedule is the process of monitoring the status of project activities comprising the inputs, tools and techniques and output. The schedule forecasts fall under output process.

This term is defined in the 5th edition of the PMBOK.

Over the course of a given project, often times, it is up to the project management team and or the project management team leader to make a determination that the previously determined and derived schedule may need to be modified and or tweaked in one way or another in order to accommodate one of more schedule events. This may be because a particular event is running behind schedule, or in other cases because a succeeding event’s timing has to e changed one way or another. However, in order to make any changes, it is important that a comprehensive analysis be undertaken by the project management team and or project management team leader as to the schedule activity sequences, schedule activity resource requirements, schedule activity durations, and any particular schedule restraints, that must be factored in not only when making the original schedule, but also in the act of making any subsequent changes. This is referred to as the process of schedule development.

This term is defined in the 3rd edition of the PMBOK but not in the 4th.

Those in project management need to use a variety of tools to assist them in seeing the main task through to the end. Among these tools is the schedule model. This tool is helpful in creating the overall schedule for the project. By knowing the timing of activities and tasks, management is better able to make more efficient use of their time and that of their employees.
The schedule model proves to be most effective when used with software programs designed to analyze the schedule network. This analysis is then used by the software to create the finalized schedule which those in project management will then convey to their employees. The job of those in management is to be able to create schedules to facilitate the completion of the project.
Those in project management do not have to use a software program with the schedule model tool in order to craft a finalized schedule. There are a variety of manual methods which can be used as well. These are more time consuming, but their results are just as reliable as those from a computer software program. Whether a manual or electronic program is used, the schedule model is a critical part in generating the final project schedule.

This term is defined in the 3rd and the 4th edition of the PMBOK.